h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

(Rednex)

I'm going to take of on a tangent and only focus on the Old Pop part of that title there.

I sometime wonder what it is that makes so much old pop - and rock for that matter - show such longevity. Basically, whenever I'm at bigger parties with lots of dancing going on, it is to a large extent music from the 80s plus minus a bit that keeps the dance floor full.

I am aware of a thing called bias. For one, there is a quite good probability that I am at parties with predominantly people who had their formative years in this period (old geezers if you will ). Having said that, my 18 year old daughter can sing along to more of them than my bad influence may be able to explain, even if her main thing by far is 2000s rock. And at said parties, the 10 and 20 years younger people also flock to the floor when the 80s music rolls.

OK, I know that there is a dance/trance/whateveritscalled scene with much more modern music and a tremendously heavy bass pumping that can gather impressive amount of dancers on a floor. And I do not think that it's all about recreational drugs there. But here my personal bias kicks in and I deftly skip over that bit.

While I have lately cheered the rhythm section, bass and drums, in another forum - http://goo.gl/5lFSj - I do believe that one major thing that sets the 80s music apart is that it is not just bass and drums. Melody and singability counts.

Methinks.

Funny you should mention Rednex, I recently saw them in a 'julbord' ad in the paper - here's the FB page for the event:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180150282063143

And as for 80ies (or around) music being very popular on the dance floor, I definitely agree - and the later in the evening, the better...

In the eighties I hated eighties music. I don't know why; I didn't yet have much of a preference for anything else. In the nineties I hated eighties music out of sheer musical snobbery, a perverse interest in frequently slightly inept guitar bands.

Now, I find myself thinking, 'wow, what a good song that was' when something (well, not absolutely everything but...) from the eighties comes on the radio.

It's most galling. But it does rather support your case.

It's cheesy. Cheesy always works on the dancefloor

Deb

Showing my age here, but I pretty much missed 80s music in the 80s, 90s music in the 90s and 00s music altogether. For me, classic rock/pop/whatever is 50s and 60s. I'm familiar with a lot of the 70s music because of the step-sons playing it all the time. But by the early 80s the only music allowed in my house or car was classical. I do now listen to the odd popular piece, but can't say I actually enjoy any of it. And I have caught up on various artists I enjoyed when I was younger.

I used to be a bit weird about music. I didn't like liking what everyone else liked, so the 80s were one great big Awkward Pause. Now, some of my favourite albums are Eurythmics, Fine Young Cannibals, REM, Paul Simon... Um, yes, I did like the 80s, really.